Why to Model Good Dental Hygiene For Your Kid

Parenting can be a challenge at times. As parents know, the health of their children is a tremendous worry. Luckily, there are things you can incorporate into your parenting style that will ensure that your children have a great role model in you to emulate. Sometimes the simplest steps can have a tremendous impact. Here are some reasons to practice great dental hygiene in front of your kid.

Kids Are Always Paying Attention

Parenting is often filled with complaints about kids not listening. While it may be true that some of what you have to say is ignored, you can almost always be sure that kids are always watching. Parenting should be less of a “do what I say and not what I do” approach and more of a “watch what I am doing and then do it” especially when it comes to oral hygiene habits.

Very young children will emulate their parent’s behaviors. In other words, if your child sees you paying attention to your oral hygiene, they too will pay attention to theirs. Parenting children that never have a cavity is easier than you think. It is never too early to start your child on the road to good oral health by showing them how important oral health is to you.

The American Dental Association recommends that children have their first dental visit by the age of one. The ADA also recommends that a soft cloth should be used to clean a child’s gums from about the age of three months until the teeth erupt.

It Is Good For You Them

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about one out of four adults have tooth decay that goes untreated in the US. A good oral health hygiene routine can improve the health of your teeth while teaching your children the importance of caring for their teeth. Show your children how to care for their teeth and be rewarded with an improvement in your oral health.

Set Up A Routine

Clear off some counter space in the bathroom and create a toothcare station for you and your children. Create a routine for you and your children where you brush together. Set aside time in the morning, and in the evening for brushing and flossing. Successful parenting starts with creating a routine.

Over time, a daily oral hygiene routine will turn into a habit, and a good oral hygiene habit is a parenting win. Invest in tools that will encourage everyone to get on board with good oral hygiene habits. There are plenty of great tools for oral hygiene that make parenting easier. Search online for the oral health tools you need for your home. Google is a great place to start. In 2020, about 95.88% of all searches were at least four words, and many of those searches were for products.

Take it a Step Further

There are three components to good oral health. There are regular dental checkups, at-home oral hygiene, and diet. Parenting a child with an eye toward good oral health means incorporating all three of these factors into your parenting style. You can help to develop good nutrition habits in your child that will help protect their teeth by keeping the sweet foods that stick to teeth out of the house.

Diet is very important not only to oral health but for overall health. Leading by example is a great way to prepare your child for a lifetime of good nutrition. Parenting with a focus on good nutrition that is healthy for the teeth can spare your child dental problems that can affect them throughout their lifetime. It is just as easy to create good eating habits as it is to create bad habits.

Infants should never be given fruit juice in their bottles. They should never sleep with a bottle of milk in their mouth. Nursing bottle mouth is a condition that causes the teeth to decay and stems from infants falling asleep with a bottle in their mouth. Fruit juices and milk have sugars that feed the bacteria in the mouth and cause decay to set in.

Parenting can come with a lot of challenges, but you can offset the challenges of dental health by modeling good oral hygiene behavior. Use these tips today to help your child stay healthy.